Plea In Supreme Court To Apply POSH Act To Political Parties

A writ petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking to apply the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 ("POSH Act") on political parties. Consequently, the writ petition also seeks the constitution of a grievance redressal mechanism as per the directions of the Supreme Court's judgment in its 2013 Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan.The writ petition, filed by Yogamaya MG, a practising advocate at the Supreme Court, challenges the exclusion of female political workers from the POSH Act, violating Articles 14, 15, 19 and 21 of the Indian Constitution."Citing studies by UN Women (2013) and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (2016), which highlight widespread psychological and sexual harassment of women in political spaces, the petition underscores the urgent need for inclusion and protection of such workers under POSH. The arbitrary denial of these protections violates their fundamental rights under Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution. The petition contends that there is no rational or intelligible differentia to exclude women in politics from protections available to women in other professions. Hence, the petition seeks judicial recognition and direction to ensure equal protection and redressal mechanisms for female political workers under the POSH Act."The petition highlights that, as per the current status, certain political parties such as CPI(M), AAP, BJP, Congress and All India Professional Congress have constituted Internal Committees("IC"), which are required to deal with the grievances under the POSH Act. However, there is an inconsistency in terms of the details available. For instance, the details of the committee members of the IC constituted by AAP are unknown. Whereas, the BJP admittedly have inadequate IC structures, with complaints often managed by Disciplinary Committees or referred to State-Level offices. The petitioner has added BJP, Congress, AITC, CPI(M), CPI, NCP, AAP, NPP, BSP as the respondents. The Union of India and the Election Commission of India are the other respondents.A similar petition was filed in 2024 by the same petitioner, which was disposed of with directions for the petitioner to make a representation to the Election Commissioner. The petitioner says she made a representation but has not received any response. Notably, by a December 3, 2024, order, the Supreme Court provided extensive guidelines for the effective implementation of the POSH Act, and it regularly monitors its implementation at all levels.The petition has been filed through Advocate-on-Record Sreeram Parakkat.Case Details: MS. YOGAMAYA M.G. v. UNION OF INDIA & ORS. |WP(C) No. 695 OF 2025

Plea In Supreme Court To Apply POSH Act To Political Parties

Gursimran Kaur Bakshi

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